A data storage system may include one device capable of bidirectional communication with another device via a communication network. One device may include a computer node having a host bus adapter (HBA). The other device may be mass storage. Each may function as a sending and receiving device in order to exchange data and/or commands with each other. The system may also include an expander.
The devices may communicate with each other using Serial Attached Small Computer Systems Interface (SAS) communication protocol. The SAS communication protocol may comply or be compatible with the protocol described in “Information Technology—Serial Attached SCSI—1.1 (SAS),” Working Draft, American National Standard of International Committee For Information Technology Standards (INCITS) T10 Technical Committee, Project T10/1562-D, Revision 1, published Sep. 18, 2003, by American National Standards Institute (hereinafter referred to as the “SAS Standard”) and/or later-published versions of the SAS Standard.
Unfortunately, the SAS Standard does not provide for selectable communication control using an expander.